Students’ sanitary product petition
Two Auckland students are petitioning for the Government to remove GST on women’s sanitary products.
Whangaparaoa College students Melanie Wilcock, 17, and Rebecca Jacobs, 17, plan to get 100,000 signatures in 30 days so they can take the petition to Parliament.
The initiative has received more than 20,000 signatures in five days. Removing GST on women’s sanitary products was something they felt strongly about.
‘‘In our developing society women should not have to be worried or embarrassed about such a natural bodily function due to the cost of products,’’ Wilcock said.
The public regarded GST on sanitary products as a ‘‘normalised thing’’ and turned a blind eye to it, but it was time someone took a stand, she said.
‘‘It’s time for the Government to take action because it is ridiculous to continue taxing sanitary products as luxury items for something that we cannot control.’’
There was a 12 per cent gender pay gap in New Zealand and only biological women experience menstruation, therefore, women were being paid less than men and charged GST for something that was essential to their health, she said. The petition can be found at www.change.org. sanitary